US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, would lead a new US government efficiency group tasked with cutting federal waste, as the Republican added a series of seasoned figures and hardliners to his incoming administration.
Musk became a key ally to Trump during his campaign, reportedly spending more than US$100 million to help the Republican win and repeatedly boosting Trump’s candidacy on X, the platform he owns.
Trump said Musk and another stalwart ally, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, would lead a “department of government efficiency” (DOGE) a tongue-in-cheek reference to an Internet meme and cryptocurrency.
Photo: AFP
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.
The department “will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government,” a move that could allow Musk to avoid disclosing his financial holdings, he said.
In a post on X, Musk said the department’s actions would be published online “for maximum transparency” and would include a “leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.”
Photo: AFP
“This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” Musk wrote.
Trump, 78, was set to make a triumphant return to Washington yesterday to meet US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
With just more than two months until he takes office, Trump is moving quickly to consolidate an extraordinary comeback.
Photo: AP
Governments worldwide are scrutinizing Trump’s picks for signs of how closely the incoming administration would stick to his promises of an isolationist foreign policy, harsh crackdowns on illegal immigration and persecution of people he perceives as enemies.
Late on Tuesday, Trump named military veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his incoming defense secretary.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Trump named US Congressman Mike Waltz, a former special forces officer, as his incoming national security adviser.
Waltz has hawkish views on China, but is not considered isolationist, despite desire in some Trump circles for the US to retreat from foreign engagements and cut obligations to allies like NATO.
Trump also announced he was choosing his former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA.
Another fervent pro-Israel figure, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, was named as ambassador to Israel.
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